Module 10

1.    Explain why you selected each of the TWO videos you choose from the selection listed above.

I chose Chinese Art: Treasures of the National Palace Museumbecause Chinese art to me seems really beautiful. When I think of China I envision the vibrant flowers, their army men sculptures, their china dinnerware, bamboo, lily pads and pandas! It just has a good vibe, and it seems beautiful. I chose African Artas well because Africa itself has so many awesome wild animals, and a very different environment than we do. Wild tigers and lions running through the savannah is what I think of, like the lion king. I imagine their art contains a lot of animals!  

2.    For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

Chinese Art: Treasures of the National Palace Museum: This video was basically just showing one art work at a time and describing them one by one. It was different that I had imagined, kind of boring. I did like the blue perfume bottle shaped china, with blue floral design with plantain leaves in the background. This piece of art was beautiful to the eyes. Symmetrical. Vibrant blue over a white clear background, and the designs all balanced out. As I said in question 1, I really like the china and this is something I was expecting to see! Secondly there was a glazed sculpture of a Chinese official riding a horse, symbolizing great brilliance. This was exactly what I had in mind, a Chinese soldier made into a statue. As the video continued I saw a lot of beautiful china dinnerware in beautiful blues and other colors. We see a lot of vases, sculptures, pans, instead of paintings we see more 3-dimensional works of art! 

African Art: This art is a lot different than I thought! A lot of weird, distorted bodies and sculptures. There were masks and faces with paint on them. Bronze and gold heads. Also, a lot of wall art from those who were hunters and gatherers. We see animals running from humans. They also had a lot of sexual art. Large breasts, etc. African art to me seems very different from any other country/continent. It is not my favorite art. Figure sculptures are mostly in west Africa. Most of their art consists of masks, decorations, objects. They played a big role in everyday life, rituals and were symbolic. 

3.     How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

Arts of Africa begins on page 417. This relates to the video, African Art. A golden ornament from an Egyptian tomb is shown on the first page, then we see a head sculpture of an African on the next page. Similar to the video, we see a lot of physical art, sculptures, ornament, bodies and figures made of wood, metal, cloth, bronze. It seems as though Africans liked to create human figures, but very distorted. As in the video and book we see how religious art is to them and how It is a part of spiritual rituals. Next, we have chapter 19: Arts of Asia: India, China and Japan. On page 437 I notice the exact sculptures of Chinese soldiers I was talking about when I referred to them in question 1. They are the terra-cotta army soldiers that guard the tomb of Shihuangdi. This is actually crazy because I have knowledge about these sculptures from movies and documentaries I have seen, that when I think of china I always think of those and it so happened to be on the first page of Chinese art in the book! Also, I am pretty sure the ritual wine vessel shown on the page 437 in the textbook is also in the video. We then see a bronze with gold  incense burner that looks similar to the china sculptures in the video. 

4. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?

The Chinese video was decent, but not what I had imagined. I saw a lot of art, but it was one by one and kind of boring to watch, hard to watch for that long! However, it gives you a very good idea of what Chinese art looks like. Like I said, we saw a ton of sculptures and dinnerware. There artwork seems more on the sculpture, handmaking side, rather than pencil/paintings. They are amazing at their china work. The blue on white is classic and beautiful. I would love a piece of china, very pleasing to the eye and is created with great skill and beauty. The second film,African art, was more exciting, but I didn’t like the art as much. African art is intertwined with magic and religion. It was a bit abstract. Animals, plants and stones are used for their rituals. Their art is very different from most. I think the Chinese was more beautiful and appealing to the eye. 

Module 9 hand drawing project

1.    What was it like using your hand as subject matter for a drawing?

Using my hands as subject matter for the drawings was very difficult. Your hand gets tired as you hold it in the correct position. You can’t use your other hand as help, like holding the paper or for instance drawing your dominant hand you cannot use your dominant hand to help draw it! Once you move your hand out of place, it is hard to then continue drawing it accurately. Using the opposite hand was just a big mess! So hard to do and to hold your hand up at the same time was extremely difficult. 

2.    What media did you select - pencil or charcoal? Why?

I chose pencil because that is what I am used to. I have a million pencils at home I don’t usually use charcoal, I wouldn’t even know what to buy for that. Pencil is something you use every day through life. It is just a natural tool I figured it would be easier.

3.    How did it feel to create a drawing with your non-dominant hand?

Horrible! I could not get it right. Holding my hand up was very annoying and creating lines and trying to get it accurate and proportioned was just impossible, you have no guidance with the opposite hand. It is a very awkward feel to use your bad hand. 

4.    Compare and contrast your final drawings. Do you think they are successful studies?

I think my first drawing was decent. I used my dominant hand. It helps to look at the object you are drawing right in front of you. This way you get all the detail, textures, light, shapes. All those details are very hard and not attainable with the opposite hand. 

5.    Would you consider using your non-dominant hand to create artwork in the future?

No way. The skill is in your dominant hand. There is no way to get the proportion or details ride, or the shading with the opposite hand. It is all about the way you hold the pencil too. It just seems silly to use the opposite hand! I prefer my dominant hand, much easier, much more strength in my fingers and skill. I can create such a better picture through my dominant hand. I don’t see a huge reason to use the weaker hand. 

Top left: done by dominant hand
Bottom right: done by non dominant hand

Module 9

1.    Explain why you selected each of the TWO videos you choose from the selection listed above. 

I choseThe Drawings of Michelangelo& Leonardo Da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance because I am very fascinated by Michelangelo’s work. I think he was amazing, and had beautiful art. His art is real art to me, it’s real and well done. True talent. My parents recently went to Italy and saw his paintings and sculptures and said they were amazing! Also, Leonardo Da Vinci… SO INTERESTING. All those movies about him and his work are just so awesome and I’d love to learn even more about him so I chose his video. 

2.    For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned: 

The Drawings of Michelangelo:Michelangelo was born is Florence in 1475. His specialty is drawing. He was absolutely amazing at detail and realness. It is very hard to recreate his work, it was so delicate and well done, it seems impossible now to recreate. He learned to paint and draw, but taught himself to sculpt. His most famous is creation of Adam. This is a beautiful painting on the Sistine chapel ceiling. I used his piece in the last project we had. It shows god creating man (Adam), as a reflection of himself. Michelangelo seems to focus on the core of the human body in all his works. You can use the body to show expressible feelings that are imagined. We see a lot of twisting torsos, some say it is a depiction of life and death. Michelangelo payed big attention to the detail in his work, the place, the positioning and how it would be viewed. His sculptures even more amazing then his drawings, two of the most famous being David and Pieta. 

Leonardo Da Vinci: The Mind of the Renaissance: As a young man, Leonardo had a passion for drawing. As he grows older, he observes faces, emotions, detail. Like Michelangelo, he also resided in Florence. “First become a master at perspective, then acquire complete knowledge of the proportion of man and the other animals. Become a good architect too. Take the head from one, eyes from another and ears from another.” Leonardo. He conveys density and transparency. He began his artwork as juts a child. He was a painter, architect and engineer. He died at the age of 67, and is considered the renaissance man. His work is amazing just as Michelangelo’s was. One famous painting of his includes the Mona Lisa. He says our body is below heaven, and heaven is below our spirit. 

3.    How do the videos relate to the readings in the text? 

Page 372 in the text book we see Michelangelo’s David sculpture. We see David here in buffalo in Delaware park on the 33, Scajaquada. This of course is a recreation, but the real sculpture is in Florence, Italy. David was a young shepherd who killed the giant Goliath with a single stone. David shows Michelangelo’s debt to classical sculptures. He translated his knowledge into a figure made of muscle, flesh and bone, created in marble. David is young and vibrant. On the same page we see Madonna and child with St. Anne, by Leonardo. This was one of his most ambitious works of art. His work was to show theological meaning. His specialty was layer upon layers of translucent glazes as they create a hazy atmosphere and velvet shadows.

4.    What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts?

I think the films are a little boring and old, but they are very informational. We see the religious depth behind a lot of the artwork. We notice the extreme detail behind these drawings and sculptures. The realness, and preciseness is remarkable. Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci will forever be famous artists and their work is timeless. We will never be able to recreate their work. I like Michelangelo’s video and artwork actually better. I love creation of Adam, my favorite! We learn that art isn’t just drawing something and whipping it up really quick. As seen in Michelangelo’s work and Da Vinci’s, it is almost like a science, its mathematical. It takes skill and real effort. Creating the right lines, shading, proportions, etc. 

Module 8

Module 8

1.    Explain why you selected the video you choose from the selection listed above.

I selected the video Cairo Museum for one reason. I am obsessed with ancient Egyptian history. I absolutely love everything about Egypt, the pharaohs, sphinx, mummies! It is so interesting and awesome, I love all the mummy movies, I have seen the Egyptian part in the history museum in Washington, I love it. I’d love to go one day, so this video was my first pick, and I really enjoyed it. 

2. For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

More human than human: We notice the fascination we have with the human body. We look at it every day, whether it is ours or other peoples. The human body is the most popular work of art. However, we notice that we always dramatize our creations of human bodies. When it comes to art, we distort the human body. We do this for the pleasing of the eye. We see toned bodies unrealistically shaped, giant boobs, super fat bodies, abstract body shapes, etc. This creates art. Just like us, art is never the same nor boring. We depict the human body in millions of different ways. 

Cairo museum: The museum was opened in 1902. It has amazing artifacts and mummies in it. The art that comes from this ancient time tells us a story. We learn so much of its history through its art. From skulls, bones, jewelry, bodies, animals to writings and objects, this all creates a story, and history. From all of that, we can create galleries, and museums. Instead of reading about history we can see it visually with our eyes through museums. 

3. How do the videos relate to the readings in the text? The biggest relation to the book from the first video is the female figure from Willendorf. From 23,000 BC, made of limestone and 4 feet high. We notice this “woman” is very overweight. Her boobs sag down and are very large, her legs being just little fat stubs. Her face is just a large sphere with some sort of pattern on it. As we learned in the video, our images of the human body are never accurate! We also see cave drawings of people with deformed bodies, a human headed winged lion, etc. This page 326 then continues to relate to the second video as it gets into ancient Egyptian art and history. We see the famous, Great Sphinx of Giza. This also is an abstract display of the human body as it is a king’s head, with a lion body. As we turn the pages we get into hieroglyphics, burial masks, painted limestone, wall art, sculptures, pyramids, pottery, etc. These are all works of art from the Egyptians that we have found in the modern world to help us better understand our history! Very cool stuff. 

4. What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the readings and art concepts? 

I wasn’t a huge fan of the first video it was a little long and dragged out and out dated. But the second one I chose was a good video. It was fun, interesting and had a lot of facts. We learn more and more that art is timeless and it can tell us stories about our history. The ancient Egyptians used their art skills in many ways. Immaculate makeup, building of the pyramids, sphinx, jewelry, etc. To this day, we learn more and more about our history because of ART! And we now can display those works of art in galleries and museums and continue to learn more every day. 

module 7 blog review

1.    For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

Architecture: The Science of Design:Architecture not only is a form of art, but is a science. There is a lot of planning and brainstorming that occurs before the creation of these buildings. Must think about wind, rain, lightening, temperatures, and more when determining how to build certain buildings. The lower the building, the more winds a pedestrian will feel walking below it. Knowing good location comes in handy before laying the foundations as well. It has to be a safe spot to build. We see a lot of technology in this video in houses, hotels, buildings. This is part of the architecture, for lights, tv, kitchen utilities, etc. We also see what I used to create what we use for structures, like limestone, concrete, cement, slab, etc. Through history we have always used these, even back in the creation of the pyramids. 

Last Call for Planet Earth: Sustainable Development & Architecture: Our planet is in danger and global warming is real. There needs to be great changes in architecture and our building designs to protect our planet. There are many architects around the world that are trying to use eco friendly and green concept materials. We learn about greener technology, radiation energy from the sun, better materials for environment, etc. Insulation is a better way to save energy, as well as underfloor heating, cooling and ventilation. Underfloor heating saves 15-20% of heating costs. Passive solar energy, roof gardens, underground car park are all different ways of being eco-friendly.

2.    How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

The videos relate in every way because they explain the various thoughts, actions, and science behind architecture. We notice in the beginning of the text, structural systems in architecture. This consists of construction, post-and-lintel. We see the history behind the arch and vault and domes. Through history we have taken our architectural ideas through those buildings that stood before us. These were made of steel, concrete, limestone, cement, etc. These were all shown in the first video, showing the science and the labor behind it all. A building must be built with the appropriate and correct materials to withstand certain weather conditions, location, capacity, etc. On page 316 we then see sustainability: green architecture. This is similar to the video, Last Call for Planet Earth: Sustainable Development & Architecture. Here we see materials used to substitute the harmful ones to our environment. Using solar energy, and doing less damage to the planet. 

3.    What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of Architecture?

Honestly, I think the films are a little old. Things have greatly changed since these videos were made. For instance, technology and architecture, as well as the sustainable development. We have so much more technology now that goes along with the architecture. Our buildings are made differently now we have many more high rises, and we have smarter ideas about protecting our planet. I think they do a good job though of reminding you and making you aware of how much thought and process goes behind architecture and the creation of buildings. From weather conditions, to creating the materials and thinking about how to be greener, there is so much science behind this type of art.

4.    Why did you choose the films that you watched?

I chose the films I watched because they seemed the most interesting and informative. The science behind just one building is crazy. I wanted to see how much work actually goes into architecture I think it is really fascinating to see it. Also, the eco-friendly video was nice because I am all for that. I love the planet too and I think more places should consider being more eco friendly and have sustainable development. Protecting our planet is huge and very important. People don’t think about that as much as they should when designing architecture. I think in the future that should be a main goal of our country, and we should start treating this earth better one building at a time. 

Module 6 Peer Review

1.    Hyperlink the Blogs you reviewed into your Blog

https://bbpdbrs.blogspot.com

https://hectorcocoaed200blog.blogspot.com

2.    When looking at Project #1: (Elements and Principles), did you agree with the element or principle the artist listed with the images? Did you see other elements and principles in the images?

Yes, I did agree with their images for each principle/element. Yes, I think that all the elements and principles can come together, and you can find multiple in one image. For example, one of the images was of a garage door listed under pattern. However, in this photo you could feel the texture, and also see the lines in it. There are 3 elements/principles right there in one simple image.

3.    When looking at Project #2: Where there any images in the Peer Blogs the same as your own? If yes, what were they? Where the reasons the image was selected the same or different as your own?

Yes, in the first blog I read, I noticed the neon square from the Albright Knox Art Gallery! I used this one too because I thought it was so bright and different and vibrant! The artist said he liked it because of the play of color and light mixing together. I can agree with this because the light and the colors are what really catch your eye and draw all that attention!

4.    Where there any images that your Peers selected that pique your interest now? If yes, what are they and what is your connection with them? What would you want to know about them?

The image that both peers chose was Grass, 1965 by Len Lye.This piece really did draw my attention. It was very calming and relaxing to see it sway. It also made sound and really stood out. It is made of stainless steel and wood. It sways like real grass would, in the wind on a calm day. I’d love to go see this, I connect with this because it is calm and that’s something I love to be. Its relaxing. I’d love to know the artists story behind it. 

5.    What do you think about the process of reading your peers reflection? Do you find this to be a valuable in your learning?

Honestly, some of the blogging was confusing. I am not great at this stuff so finding the right blogs and using blogger was kind of difficult because some of the student’s layouts were very different than mine, mines simple and easy to read, but I guess they are just being creative and I’m clueless on how to work the site! Haha. But I did enjoy reading their responses and seeing their images to compare and contrast them to mine! We all have pretty similar work, but in our own ways!

6.    Check your Blog and read comments posted by your Peers. Do you find their comments helpful?

I do not have any comments on mine! However, yes I would find them helpful because it is always nice to get someone else’s point of view for constructive criticism. It is also nice to hear good things! 

module 6

1.    For each video list/discuss the key concepts you learned.

From the eyes of the sculptor I noticed that art comes from where you grow up and it can affect the way you think about art. For the sculptor in the video, Emanuel, he was born in France. Here, he was surrounded by quarries and in the quarries were sculptures and the walls were all beautifully carved. He loved shape, figure and form. He was born in a beautiful place with sculptures and paintings and history and monuments. This made him want to create those things himself. He started very young and is now a master sculptor. He needs to be able to visualize it in his head and put it on paper before he can create it in clay, marble, plaster, etc. In the glass video we see how this is just as tedious and detail oriented like sculpting. Once the glass is mixed right and heated it is taken out of the oven and is shaped and turned as it is on a rod. You can then shape it the way you want, blow it the way you want or melt it with more fire. Colors and textures are important in the stained glass windows. They must study the light in the room to determine how to create the stained glass window using the old fashion led method. A puzzle of glass pieces is then created. Then it is fit into led strips and sautered together. 

2.    How do the videos relate to the readings in the text?

The videos relate to the reading because the videos are showing sculptures, and carving the ceramics and glass. In the text we see glass porcelain china beautifully painted, a glass bottle made from ancient Egypt, stained glass windows, an Indian sculpture gilded in gold, a carving of a women and child as well as pharaoh sculptures and many more that relate to the videos. We read about it all in the text, but in the videos we get to actually see it being done. We saw the sculptor creating the artwork in the quarries, and we saw the stained-glass windows being made. In the book we read about it all and get alot of information on how it is all made. 

3.    What is your opinion of the films? How do they add depth to understanding of the topics: Sculpture, Installation, and Craft?

I enjoyed the films, I liked the first one better. I love seeing the beautiful artwork done in France and Italy, no wonder this guy wanted to be a sculptor so badly! He was born in such a beautiful place. There is a lot of hard work behind his sculptors. Same with the glass video we see how detailed it is making the stained glass windows. They relate to sculpture because they are three dimensional forms being created, out of clay in the first one or glass in the second one. As for installation we see how hard it is to install these artworks. Emanuel has to literally have them perfectly installed into the walls in the quarry, as for the second video shows how the stained glass windows have to go through a whole process before being installed into the windows. Lastly, craft. Craft is an activity involving skill in making things by hand. Clearly, both videos showed extreme craft. You have to be very skilled to do what they did in the videos. They have pure talent and they make beautiful artwork!